How to Find the Best Editing Service for your Self-published Books

How to get started with editing (Photo by Angelina Litvin on Unsplash)

As our new writing year kicks off, we’re receiving a lot of questions about editors – so if you’re starting out as an indie author, here’s a quick guide on how to find and work effectively with the editor that’s right for you, via the ALLi Author Advice Center archive of over 2,000 advice blog posts.

By the way, when you find the right editor – hang on to them! It’s more satisfying, cost-effective and efficient to build a long-term relationship with one provider of editing services than to go through the whole process for each new book, especially if you’re writing in the same genre and even more so if you are writing a series.

The following list includes posts and podcasts on different aspects of working with an editor. Once you’ve visited those that answer your particular questions, scroll down to the foot of the post for practical information on where to find the best editor for your particular books.

The Best Place to Start Looking for the Best Editing Service

One of the trickier issues with choosing an editor is that anyone can set themselves up in business and call themselves an editor, and charge what they like, without being qualified to do so and without any relevant experience. Buyer, beware! A good starting point for your search is to visit ALLi’s Self-publishing Services Directory, which lists only tried-and-trusted Partner members of ALLi whose quality of service we can vouch for. You can find the Directory on our membership website. It also includes Partners offering other services such as cover design and formatting.

For more advice on how to choose and use self-publishing services to help make your books they best they can be, read our guidebook, Choosing the Best Self-publishing Companies and Services, available in paperback and ebook. (Also available for ALLi members to download for free – one of 21 great benefits of paying to join ALLi.)